Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1887-10-02

George Gould, the son of his fathe
Jay and the father Of his son Jay.
THE LOTTERY or THE THEATRES.
Bronson Howard made big strng
q G for lost ground with his new pla,
this week. He got a drubbing from
the press and the public when he pro
ducod "Met by Chance " which he il
not likely TO forget. Though he hac
been for many years the foremost o
American dramatists and a man of many
charming and lOvable social qualities
he was jumped on just rs hard when he
made failure as though he had been
an unknown writer or n politician
without a pull. He had every.
thing at stake with his new comedy
and he made il success THE Hen
Meta was filed with bright dialogue,
and gave evidence in several places o
strong dramatic force. 1t was epigram-
matte, too, rs Howprd's plays usually
are, and its triumph was due to the
| playwright and not to the men who
starred IN the piece. The fact is that
Robson and Crane are beginning to
wear a little upon the public All last
year they tried TO push an old
Shakspearcan comedy down the Threats
of theatre-goers whether they would
or no, and the poorer the business
was the harder they stuck to
it. The result was that they
lost prestige very rapidly, and they
found IT necessary TO do something TO
attract the attention of the higher grade
OF theatre goers. Hence theirarrange-
meut with Mr.. Bronson Howard But
Robson and Crane have been acting to-
gother SO long, and have so carefully
nuIturcd their mannerisms that there
is a lack of spontaneity and freshness
about their bumor which cannot be
atoncd for even by lavish stage skill
and dramatic polish. In their new
piece they have vehicle that serves
them well enough for showing off their
old.time and hackneyed cleyerness, and
that is about all.
THE NEW FRENCH OPERA COMPANY
seems to have caught the town. There
are more distinctively young women IN
the chorus than is usually the rule in
companies of the sort, and there seems
to be a very fair prospect Of success.
Everything Is apparently running Alb
bcy's way low, and the fact that his
finn has control of the new French
opera company indicates that the per
Torrance will he Of higher order than
heretofore. Abbey is re- ching out cX-
tensNely in his old time fashion and it
viii not surprise anybody materially if
the Old-timc result follows. He has
engaged a company of twenty-four peo-
PIE, and the seasonal Wallack 8 Theatre,
which be now manages, will be opened
10y n company of just seven per
sons. If the piece is successful Mr.
Abbey will have fifteen hi9h-priced
people walking about the streets draw
ing salaries without having a chance to
go on the stage The new piece is
called "1he Mouse Trap" 1t has
never been played on any stage. Curl
ously enough, every actor IN the com
paDy and everybody connected with
the stage is English. Wailack is fated
TO have The Anplomlniac tinSc t. the
last The two leading women are Rose
Coph'an ana Florence Girard (Nlrs.
Abbey the leading man Is Osmond
Tealle, and all Of the minor people are
direct from London. IS the shrewdest
judges Of things theatrical have claimed
tor yculs that the English tendency al
Nailack's Theatre Is.What caused the
downfall OF the house, il IS rather odd
that so shrewd a man as Abbey should
follow in the same path. The Wal
lacks seem to have dropped entirely
out Of tie dramatic field. The old
man, Lester Wallack, devoted some
time to rehearSing Mr. Joseph Ha-
worth. who is playing in "Rosedale,"
and Mr.. Arthur Wallack, the son, is
more or less interested in the Haworth
tour. But both of these positions are
Of minor importance, and the men who
once held the keynote of the entire
dramatic situations in America have
dropped into subseIvient and unimpor-
tant positions. They will eventually
drop out of sight, and it is a question
of very shoIt time at that.
lnL SAhihlSI VI me NLAoON
seems to be Mr.. Frederick Bryton,
whose fame is being rushed into promi-
nonce by the success which is greeting
him all about the country. He is the
of the leading men, anu,
unlike the actors of the Kyrle Bellew
and Eben Plympton stripe, he seems to
he made of solid flesh and blood, so
that men admire him even more than
women His play and his success are |
remarkable instances OF what pluck |
will do in the lottery of theatrical sue
cesses. Bryton is a brawny, square
direct, and handsome man,
with unlimited confidence in himself |
and reputation for perfect squareness |
and thOrOughness to his hackers. |
He believed he could make a sue
cess as star, and Nate Sauls-
bury believed in him too. Clay Greene
wrote play for him called Forgiven"
and Nate Salisbury sent Bryton on the
road. Week after week the company |
lost money, and salisbury went to his
bank account and made good the losses.
This went on for month after month,
until Buffalo Bills partner found him
self on the wrong side of the bank ac-
count TO the tune of great many thou
sand dollars. Still he believed IN bry-
ton, and Eryton believed in himself,
and they kept Oh with unflinching
The season was closed with
mapy debts, and Salisbury pulled
himself together, and applied tue rest
Of his bank account to taking Buffalo
Bills show to England. There the
money began to pour into his pockets
in barrels full, and Bryton started out
on his second season. The faith OF the
hacker and of the star was mistaken,
md this time Salisbury was ready and
able to meet all demands. But money
las been pouring in on him from his
American enterprise, just as it has been
IN London. Bryton's success is the
ak in theatrical circles lie has made
lp all his losses, and is greeted by
crowded houses everywhere in playing
over the ground that was dreary
waste 10 him year ago. Yet, II they
had had shade less money or conf
lence they would never have gone out
again this year, and so missed for
.une. The theatrical business is a Gu
nous lottery at best, but there seems to
be no doubt Of the success of thelpol-
icy of sticking to good thing if you
happen TO get hold Of it, That has
been Saulsbury's motto, and his reward
bids fair to be something near mil
ion dollars within the next two years.